Regulations 'urgently needed' as mining companies eye sea floor

Margaret Munro - 

Cindy Lee Van Dover is one of the few people on Earth to have actually seen the denizens of the deep up close.

She's been on dozens of submersible dives to explore colonies of strange animals, worms and microbes that thrive on hot water percolating out of the sea floor, which researchers believe may have been the cradle of life.

"There are creatures of extraordinary beauty down there, exquisitely adapted to their environment," she said.

There are also such rich deposits of gold, silver, zinc and copper that companies want to start "open-cut" mining around deep sea vents, with a Canadian company leading the way in waters in the southwest Pacific Ocean.

Van Dover, a leading U.S. marine biologist at Duke University, is calling for deferral of "wholesale commercial mining" of the seabed until conservation plans are in place.

In a report to be published Thursday in the journal Nature she likens deep-sea vents to the geysers in Yellowstone National Park, one of the most celebrated natural wonders in the U.S.

"It is easy to see what would have been lost had Yellowstone been turned over to miners instead of park rangers," writes Van Dover, who says there is an "urgent need" for regulation and conservation planning before companies start digging into the sea floor.

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